The futures were mixed on Friday, as we prepared to end a week that saw the Dow Jones industrial average, Nasdaq and the S&P 500 hit new all-time highs. The sellers had the upper hand early Thursday, as all the major indexes and the transports were lower, but a midday turnaround helped all four close modestly higher. With most of the second-quarter earnings reports now in, and vacation time in August over in many places and running out in others, investors can expect some choppy trading the rest of the month as volumes drop. U.S. wholesale prices were reported Thursday and rose sharply in July for the sixth month in a row, offering little evidence that the big wave of inflation is on the verge of slowing as many pundits have predicted.

Despite worries and the potential for a “taper tantrum” like we saw in 2013, the Federal Reserve is vowing to keep interest rates contained. This comes as some of the Fed governors and media pundits are hinting that a tapering of the $120 billion per month purchase of government and mortgage debt known as quantitative easing could be in the works sooner rather than later.

With major Wall Street firms still warning of the potential for impending 5% to 10% correction across the board, it makes sense for investors to continue building some cash reserves into the market strength while repositioning portfolios for the rest of 2021.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, August 13, 2021.

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI): Citigroup raised the video game giant’s stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $105 price target. The consensus target is higher at $116.66. The stock was last seen on Thursday at $85.17.

ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ: ACVA): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and lifted the price target to $35 from $33. The posted consensus target is $36.67. The stock closed on Thursday at $21.85, after tumbling over 11% on the day. Shares were fighting back in the premarket, up almost 3%.

Bilibili Inc. (NASDAQ: BILI): Deutsche Bank started coverage with a Buy rating and a $110 price target. That compares with the much higher $146.24 consensus target and the closing trade on Thursday at $79.94.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. (NYSE: BR): JPMorgan resumed coverage on the stock with an Overweight rating and a $181 price target. The consensus price objective is $175.43. The final trade for Thursday was reported at $172.90.

Carrier Global Corp. (NYSE: CARR): Citigroup resumed coverage of the HVAC giant with a Neutral rating and a $58 price target. The consensus target is $52.06. The last trade for Thursday was reported at $55.98.

Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC): Mizuho upgraded shares of the independent oil producer to Buy from Neutral and also lifted the price target to $95 from $89. The consensus target is just $82.56. The final trade for Thursday came in at $65.27.

Cricut Inc. (NASDAQ: CRCT): Morgan Stanley’s downgrade to Underweight from Equal Weight came with a $29 price target. The consensus target is up at $34. The stock closed Thursday at $34.51, up over 3% for the day, but plunged a stunning 19% in premarket action after edging second-quarter expectations but failing to provide third-quarter guidance.

Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB): Keefe Bruyette raised its Underperform rating on the German financial giant to Market Perform. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $7.84 to $15.34 and has an $11.35 consensus price target. The last trade for Thursday was reported at $12.85.

Hillman Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: HLMN): Raymond James started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $15 price target. No consensus target was available. The shares closed Thursday at $13.31.

Instil Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: TIL): Baird started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $34 price target. The consensus target is $28.67, and the last trade Thursday came in at $16.45.

KE Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BEKE): HSBC Securities downgraded it to Hold from Buy and has a $19.90 price target. No consensus price objective was available. The stock ended Thursday at $19.66.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS): Seaport Global Securities downgraded the financial services and investment giant to Neutral from Buy. Over the past 52 weeks, the shares have traded between $45.86 and $104.72 apiece, and they have a $98.53 consensus target. After closing at $104.67, which was a new 52-week high, this looks like a straight valuation call.

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR): RBC Capital Markets resumed coverage with a Sector Perform rating, though the firm raised its price target to $25 from $20. The posted consensus target is $23. The stock surged 12% on Thursday, after the company revealed strong revenues for the latest quarter, and closed at $24.89 per share.
Rackspace Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RXT): The Barclays downgrade to Equal Weight from Overweight included a price target cut to $15 from $25. The consensus price objective is $26.50. The shares closed on Thursday at $14.31, which was down almost 15% for the day after the cloud-services provider reported higher revenue and a wider loss for the second quarter, while bookings for the third quarter decelerated.

Rattler Midstream L.P. (NASDAQ: RTLR): Barclays both downgraded the stock to Underweight from Equal Weight and slightly lowered the price target to $11 from $12. The consensus price objective is $12.33. Thursday’s closing trade was reported at $10.99.

Redfin Corp. (NASDAQ: RDFN): Susquehanna started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $60 price target. The consensus target is $68.73. The stock closed at $56.15 on Thursday.

Root Inc. (NASDAQ: ROOT): Truist Securities downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold with a $6 price target, and Wells Fargo cut its Overweight rating to Equal Weight and lowered the price target to $7 from $16. The consensus target of $16.08 is sure to drop, as the shares closed down almost 20% Thursday to $5.54 after the company posted disappointing results.

Terex Corp. (NYSE: TEX): Zacks says that solid earnings have helped lift this stock, so it was named as the Bull of the Day. Its shares most recently closed at $53.75 and have a consensus price target of $57.00.

Upstart Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: UPST): Barclays upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight and boosted the price target to $230 from $130. That compares with the $139.29 consensus target and Thursday’s close at $178.12, which was up over 4% for the day. The shares followed through in the premarket, tacking on an additional 3.5%.

Goldman Sachs has adjusted the price targets on some stocks that may offer aggressive growth investors some parabolic upside potential. Three stocks have all backed up big-time from their IPO highs and have very positive earnings potential.

See which three off-the-radar health care stocks have Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest buying the dips, as well as the biotech-focused SPAC these ETFs have been loading up on.

Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Canopy Growth, Carrier Global, Fastly, Lyft, Mastercard, Micron Technology, Pinterest, Seagate Technology, Virgin Galactic and Wendy’s. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Chipotle Mexican Grill, eBay, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Tesla and more.

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